God Alone is Enough.

That's right, folks....Claudia Mair Burney's new book is out! Her first, non-fic, by the way, and I for one am pretty stoked about it. What's even more exciting is that I have a copy right here in my sweaty little hands, and I'm posting this as part of a blog tour! How fun is that? I'll not be reviewing the whole book...this tour is a chapter by chapter deal. I'll be reviewing Chapter 3. You can find informative reviews of Chapter 1 at http://www.alisonstrobel.com/alison-blog/2010/6/14/god-alone-is-enough.htmland http://kbhyde.wordpress.com/. Chapter 2 reviews can be found at http://rubysdaughterbrenda.blogspot.com/2010/06/god-alone-is-enough.html and http://www.wesuckatlife.com/wordpress/?p=189
So, shall I share with the class?

This lovely new book from Claudia Mair Burney is called God Alone is Enough: A Spiritual Journey with St. Teresa of Avila. And there go half of you ...you're not Catholic and you're not interested in Saint Anyone. Well, let me grab you by the collar and pull you back. This book is about a woman, her spiritual journey to God, away from God and back to God. Don't write her off as Ms. Piety. She struggled with her flesh. She loved, maybe even craved, the attention her beauty brought her. She loved the Lord, wanted to please him and be close to him, yet had trouble concentrating on Him for more than a few minutes at a time. Sound familiar? Ok, how about this...

"Dear Lord, Thank for another beautiful day. You are so wonderful, and your creation is beautiful...You have blessed me with another day....(What day is it, anyway? oh yeah, Thursday...It's Garbage day! Oh man, I'm sure my son isn't even up yet. What time is it???) OH! Sorry Lord, ok...You have blessed me..."

NOW does it sound familiar? Has that ever happened to you? It sure happens to me, and it happened to St. Teresa as well. She struggled with prayer, thought she was a failure at it...but that's not my chapter. My chapter is when Ms. Burney shares with us what she calls "one of the most sublime analogies about prayer ever written." The Chapter is entitled "Make a Garden" and in it we hear St. Teresa tell us about finding a plot of earth that is filled with weeds and barren soil. There's work to be done here if anything is going to grow, y'all. The ground needs to be tilled, weeds need to be pulled and seeds new to be planted. That's hard work folks, and guess what? God has taken care of that for us. All you need to do is show up with the water. What's the end result? A beautiful, lavish, fruitful garden.

That's how it is with prayer. That's how it is with your soul...God does the heavy lifting, we just show up with the water of prayer.

Claudia Mair goes into a bit more detail and expands more on the benefits of water and what happens when we don't have it.... but I won't go into all that. You'll have to read the book for those tasty morsels. You won't be sorry, lovies! ;-)


By the way, as you breeze through the pages of this book, please note the artwork scattered here and there. That is the hand of our talented author! Enjoy those treasures...they are a peek into her soul.

For more blog tour details, visit Ms. Burney at http://ragamuffindiva.blogspot.com/

Tom Petty Tuesday

Ever feel like this?

This is how I feel today. Just so you know.

Hmmmmmm.....

"We have grown literally afraid to be poor. We despise anyone who elects to be poor in order to simplify and save his inner life. If he does not join the general scramble and pant with the money-making street, we deem him spiritless and lacking in ambition." ~William James

Me and My Big Mouth!

OK. I have dreams every night, and 9 out 10 times, they are really freaky. One of my all time least favorite reoccurring dreams is the incredibly annoying, and somewhat unsettling "too much gum in my mouth" dream. In this dream, I am trying to talk to someone, but I have gobs and GOBS of gum in my mouth. I'm pulling it out, but it's a real mess, and no matter how much I pull out, THERE'S MORE! Sometimes the gum sticks to my teeth and I feel it pulling my fillings out. And I always am wondering why no one seems to notice,and at the same time, I'm concerned about what they will say when they do notice. Strange, you say? Well, apparently it's not that uncommon! Check this out..."This is such a common recurring dream for so many people because it is commenting on a common behavior pattern so many of us have.....not being able to get the game out means you are probably holding your tongue and not speaking up about something you need to speak up about."

Another one of my not so favorite reoccurring dreams is that my teeth are falling out. Sometimes I spit out one or two at a time, sometimes in pieces, and sometimes I spit out handfuls of teeth a time. Well, as it turns out..."dreams about your teeth often symbolize your words. If your teeth are falling out then you have been having loose speech, speaking without thinking or gossiping, you have allowed something out of your mouth that should have remained in there permanently… like your teeth! If you are spitting out your teeth then there is something that needs to be said."

So, no more Mr. Nice Guy. I'm fixing to let it rip! Maybe then I can sleep well. :-)

http://www.dreamdictionaryforfree.com

Things My Kids Have Said

"Momma, for some reason, when it's my birthday and everyone is singing to me, I feel kinda warm." - Ben, age 6, 2/25/10

"Momma! I can walk like a lemon!" - Sam at 3, 1/1/09

"It's such a great day to be tomorrow" - Wyatt Henry, when he was REALLY little.

"I am the bubble fairy, and the spiders are my servants." - Lizzie at age 8, 10/03/09

"Why do you have secret eyes?" - Sam at 4 yrs. old, 5/25/09

"Mommy, was I yelling bleeding murder?" Ben at age 5, 4/2/09

"I didn't forget. I misremembered." Lizzie at age 6

"And running into cheese? You think that is fun?" Sam at age 4, 2/13/10

"Can we go out and play in the frost?" All except Abby, so far, when they see their first frost and think it's snow.

"Daddy, please don't go to work today. If you stay home, I'll do tricks for you all day." Wyatt Henry at age 6.

Book News

Forgive me, blog followers, for I have sinned. It has been 5 months since my last blog entry. BUT, here I am today with great book news! First, Lisa Samson and her beautiful daughter Ty have co-written a book about their trip to Africa. I have not read it yet, but let me assure you, I will. It's called Love Mercy...here it is.

(That's not me, by the way. That's Lisa. She's serious...by the book.)


Ok, next up: Zippy. Have you read "A Girl Named Zippy." by Haven Kimmel? If not, you must. It is HILARIOUS! (Click here to check it out.)I read it about 4 or 5 months ago, and I recently started the second book about Zippy called, "She Got Off of the Couch." I'm only about 1/3 of the way through it, so I can't give you a complete review, but I can tell you this: I have laughed out loud (belly-laughed out loud mind you) every night that I have read this book. You can ask my husband. Now, when he hears me laughing, he says, "Is that Zippy?" FUN-NY!

OK, I was going to write a little blurb about all the books I've been reading since my last entry, but like I said,it's been 5 months. Seriously, y'all. I'm not writing that many reviews...I do have a life and it's not that of a paid book critic. So, if you're at all curious, check out my Recent Reads column in the side bar.

So, we have alot of catching up to do. Too much for me to do right now, while my 3 littlest ones are outside unsupervised, so I'll have get back with you later!